


A Way with Words

by HiddenTreasures



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 03:12:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12003786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenTreasures/pseuds/HiddenTreasures
Summary: For fifteen years, John had to look at the words “my friend loves you” on his arm, wondering why his soulmate didn’t love him. But when he meets his soulmate at a book signing, he finally gets the context those words were meant in.





	A Way with Words

John absently sipped at his coffee as he continued to smile at the next person in line.

“Who’s it for?” he asked, flipping open the book with his pen ready.

“Amelia. Amelia Pond.”

“Amelia Pond,” he repeated as he scrawled the name, and then his own signature. Well, his nom de plume signature. Who in their right mind would name their child ‘The Doctor’?

When he’d first published his debut novel nearly five years ago, he’d never dreamed it would become an overnight sensation, and make him one of the most popular authors of the century. He’d never imagined people would enjoy his silly little collections of short stories about an alien from a far-off planet that owned a time and space ship and sailed around the universe, traveling and causing problems as often as he fixed them. The premise itself was quite ridiculous, but the fact that he’d taken his pseudonym from his main character’s name…

“It’s like Lemony Snicket,” he’d always explained during his book tours, and the public seemed to love it. Even now, five years later, his stats were only getting better with every new book he came out with.

“Happy Christmas,” John said with his pasted-on smile, before his eyes slid to the next person in line.

He generally enjoyed book signings—they were a free way for his fans to meet him—but doing them around the holidays just made him sad. The libraries and bookshops that hosted him were always bustling with people and shoppers and general merriment, and watching couples do their Christmas shopping together always dampened his spirits.

Despite his best efforts, his mind wandered to the ink printed on his left forearm. His soulmark. The soulmark that had brought him nothing but sadness for the last fifteen years.

_My friend loves you._

Why would his soulmate ever say something like that to him? Why would his soulmate’s friend love him? Didn’t his soulmate love him?

When he had awoken on his tenth birthday to find those words on his skin, he’d cried, and worried he would be the only case in the world of unrequited soulmateship. And though his parents tried to assure him that he didn’t know the context his soulmate might say those words in, he could see the pity and concern in their faces whenever they caught sight of his soulmark.

And so from an early age, John had convinced himself day in and day out that he didn’t need a soulmate. That he wouldn’t even want one if they didn’t love him. For the most part, he was fine with never finding his soulmate, but the holiday cheer always seemed specifically geared towards soulmates, and the dull ache in his chest reminded him that maybe he wasn’t as okay as he claimed.

“Can I get you another coffee, Doctor?”

John glanced up at Wilf, the owner of the bookshop/coffeeshop where the book signing was being held.

“That’d be brilliant, thanks!” John said, handing Wilf his empty mug. “Same thing, please.”

Wilf nodded, and bustled away to make him a fresh cup. John glanced out at the line of people still waiting to meet him, and then to the doors behind the line. Dusk was falling, and it had started to snow. The Christmas lights reflected off of the falling snow, making everything glow. It looked so beautiful, and John’s stomach hurt with yearning to share the holidays with someone. He hadn’t had anyone since his parents passed away six years ago…

“Here you go!”

John yanked himself out of his melancholic thoughts, and accepted the mug with a wide grin and a chipper “thanks”.

“Right! Back at it!” he said, turning back to the next person in line. “Just needed to be recaffeinated is all!”

The next twenty minutes passed in a blur of people and mindless greetings and books and ink, and it was all getting quite boring and monotonous until an old, well-worn copy of his first book was laid out in front of him.

“My friend loves you.”

John’s neck snapped up, even as his hand continued to scrawl his signature across the inner cover.

The most beautiful person was smiling shyly down at him. Her cheeks were pink from the cold and bits of snow were clinging to her blonde hair.

“Martha, her name is,” she said, nodding to the book. “This is her Christmas gift. When I heard you were coming to town before the holidays, I knew I had to get you to sign this for her.”

But John was still staring stupidly up at her. He wanted to ask her to repeat her first sentence, just to be sure he hadn’t misheard her. His heart always skipped a beat when someone started off their sentence with ‘my friend’, but unlike every other time, this person finished it with ‘loves you’.

_My friend loves you._

This woman’s friend loved him as an  _author_! Of course! That had to be it! His soulmark wasn’t unrequited after all!

“Er, anyways,” the woman mumbled, picking the book back up with red cheeks. John realized he still hadn’t said anything. “Merry Christmas.”

She turned away from him to let the next person in line get their book signed, but no, she couldn’t be walking away. How could he make her turn around? She was his soulmate, he knew it! But why was she walking away? He didn’t even know her name. He couldn’t call out to her, but she was almost to the door and he needed her to stop and turn around and…

“Tell your friend I love her!”

 _What? What the bloody hell?_  No, those could not be his first words to his soulmate. They could  _not_! He had all the words in the world at his disposal, and yet he’d blurted out those words. He wanted a redo.

But the woman was still walking away. Hadn’t she heard him?

Something cold settled into his belly at the thought that maybe he wasn’t her soulmate. Could that happen? Could she be his soulmate, but could he not be hers? Could soulmarks be unrequited? That was nearly as impossible as a soulmate’s love being unrequited, but with his luck, that just might be the case.

John was aware that he was causing a scene, with him half-standing out of his chair and leaning against the table for support because his legs felt too shaky to hold his weight. People in line were murmuring and everyone was staring at him, but he only had eyes for the blonde that was half-way out the door.

He could have cried with relief when the woman went completely still, and stopped so suddenly that the person behind her knocked into her.

“Watch it!”

John wanted to growl at the person who snapped at his soulmate, but he was still frozen to the spot and his voice didn’t seem to want to work. The woman turned around, and her face looked pale and tears were glittering in her beautiful brown eyes.

“What did you say?” she asked, finally walking back towards him.

“Something daft,” he said sheepishly, raking his fingers through the hairs on the back of his head as he met her half way.

“No, you…” The woman drew in a deep breath and swiped at her eyes. “Say it again.”

“Do I have to?” he whined, feeling mortified that his soulmate had had those stupid words tattooed on her skin since she was ten.

“Please,” she begged, and John suddenly realized that his soulmate had had those stupid words tattooed on her skin since she was ten. Words that said he loved her friend. Not her. Her friend.

Well that just wouldn’t do.

“Please pardon my idiocy,” he began, “and I’m so sorry you’ve got someone so stupid as a soulmate, but I believe I just said “tell your friend I love her”. Daft, I know. Sorry.”

The woman’s lips quirked up in a slow smile that made her whole face light up, and John’s breath wheezed out of his lungs. She was so, so beautiful.

She fumbled with the bags in her hands for a moment before she wrenched up her left sleeve, revealing the black ink on her forearm.

_Tell your friend I love her._

“I always thought that meant my soulmate didn’t want me,” she murmured, sniffling.

John unbuttoned his cuff and yanked his own sleeve up and held it next to hers.

_My friend loves you._

“Me too,” he whispered.

The woman giggled, and the sound made John feel as giddy as a bottle of wine did. He wanted to hear that sound every day for the rest of his life, and he wanted to be the person that made her laugh like that.

“Is this real?” she asked, still beaming at him.

“Oh, yes, it is… Er…” John smiled shyly and said, “I don’t even know your name.”

“Rose,” she said immediately. “Rose Tyler.”

“Nice to meet you, Rose,” he said. “I’m…”

“Oh, I think everyone here knows your name,” Rose said. She flashed him a new smile, a playful smile where her tongue poked out from between her teeth, and John loved this newest smile. But it slipped and she said, “Do you prefer ‘Doctor’ or ‘John’?”

John pressed his tongue against the backs of his teeth as he regarded her.

“Well, everyone calls me ‘Doctor’,” he finally said.

“I’m not everyone,” she said simply. “John.”

He giggled at the sound of his name from her lips. No one ever used his real name anymore, and it was so lovely to hear it spoken by his soulmate.

John was suddenly aware of the applause in the shop, and he realized that he and Rose weren’t alone. The people still waiting in his line were beaming at him and clapping, and many of them had their phones out. He groaned inside when he realized the internet at large probably knew he had just found his soulmate.

“Er, thank you all for coming,” he announced to the crowd. “But, er, unfortunately—well, not unfortunately for me—I am going to have to end this book signing a bit early tonight. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience, but, well, I hope you understand. If you could all leave your contact details with the lovely Mr. Mott here, I will ensure that you all receive a free, signed copy of my book that is coming out later this winter as my apology for running out on you all this lovely December evening.”

The line buzzed with excitement, but John hardly paid attention to it. He spun back around towards Rose, towards his soulmate, and he took her hand and guided her outside.

“I can get you a free signed copy of my book too, if you want,” he teased as they walked down the street towards nowhere in particular.

Rose’s cheeks stained red and she bit her lip and said, “Er, about that… I’ve never actually… uhm… I’ve never read any of your books.”

John tugged her to a stop and blinked at her, then couldn’t help but bark out a laugh, a deep belly laugh of utter joy and happiness. Of all the people in the world, of course his soulmate wasn’t a fan of his books.

“Oh, Rose Tyler, I love you,” he giggled.

Rose drew in a sharp breath, and he realized what he’d said. He rubbed his thumb against hers nervously as he wondered if she was okay with what he’d just said.

She reached up and cradled his cheek in her palm. Her hand was warm and soft, and he leaned closer to her touch. His breathing turned shallow in nervousness and anticipation as she tilted her head up towards him.

“Well, I suppose that’s better than you loving my friend,” she whispered, and John shivered when her breath tickled his lips. “And for what it’s worth… I love you, too.”

John’s hum of happiness was muffled by Rose’s lips, as he kissed and was kissed by his soulmate for the first time.


End file.
